Hello, Operator...Daddy, is That You?
by PJ in NH
Summary: B'Elanna has her turn on the


Title: Hello, Operator...Daddy, is That You?  
Contact: kelhapam@worldpath.net  
Series: VOY   
Rating: PG  
Code: T, P/T  
Part: 1/1 NEW   
Date: 16 August 2000  
  
Summary: B'Elanna's call comes through. What does she have to  
say to her father? What does her father have to say to her?  
  
Explanation: This story takes place at the beginning of Season  
Seven.  
  
Disclaimer: Voyager owns all the characters, etc., I am just  
using the characters for a little fun and relaxation.  
  
Note of Appreciation. Special thanks to my beta readers: Tracy  
S., Ronda S., and P.J. Sutherland. Special thank you to Tracy  
for giving me the Section 31 idea.  
  
Email: kelhapam@worldpath.net  
  
Posting: OK to ASC. Please notify me if you post anywhere  
else.  
  
  
Hello, Operator...Daddy, is that You?  
8/00  
  
How dare he! B'Elanna thought. Her body shook with rage as she  
hurled another trinket toward the far wall of her quarters. A  
unsatisfying thud followed by a thump was heard when the item  
first hit the wall and then landed on the carpeted deck. Why had  
she ever let Tom Paris substitute all her little treasures with  
unbreakable duplicates? Right now, she really needed to hear a  
wonderful resounding smash! Instead, she heard the her  
communications station beep.  
  
B'Elanna's head snapped around toward the sound. Chewing on her  
lower lip, a habit she developed when she was a little girl, she  
walked to the comm station, sat down, and pressed the connection  
button.  
  
"B'Elanna Torres," she announced trying to sound confident. She  
had given up trying to figure out who would be on the other end.   
Her mother, maybe--that is if she really survived her trip to  
Sto-Vo-Kor. An old friend at the Academy? Very unlikely. Her  
father? Yeah, right. Like he'd ever call!  
  
A voice that she hadn't heard in a very long time came through  
loud and amazingly clear, considering distance that it had  
traveled. It completely floored her. "Princess?"  
  
{Princess?} It'd been years since she had been called that...and  
she didn't want to hear it now. But she bit her tongue at the  
retort that formed on her lips. Tom would tell her that now was  
not the time to be confrontational. He would stress that she be  
patient--anger could come later if necessary.  
  
"Father?" She'd be damned if she'd call him Daddy like she had  
when she was small; and B'Elanna resumed gnawing on her lower  
lip.  
  
"Your lip's going to be raw if you keep on chewing it, B'Elanna,"  
he replied knowingly.  
  
B'Elanna stopped chewing immediately...it's hard to chew your lip  
when ones mouth had fallen open in disbelief.  
  
"How'd you know?" she asked. Her initial anger at hearing Eduardo  
Torres' voice was replaced with curiosity.  
  
"You always chewed your lower lip when you were a little girl,  
B'Elanna. You did it every time you were troubled, or if you  
were concentrating. I remember when you were about four, I came  
home to find you sitting cross-legged in the middle of the  
kitchen floor with Tobey, your stuffed targ. All around you two  
were pieces of what had been the household trash transporter. Do  
you remember?"  
  
B'Elanna's lips formed a small smile despite herself. "Yeah, I  
remember. I thought I was going to be in *big* trouble," she  
recalled. Instead her father had squatted down on the floor  
beside her, and not only helped her put the thing back together,  
but explained each step in the process. Her father even took the  
time to talk to her as an equal, not like a child.   
  
"You were so serious, but so bright," he continued. "I could  
almost see your little mind absorbing all the information that I  
was telling you. I knew then that you'd go places, B'Elanna; but  
I just didn't know how far."   
  
B'Elanna could hear the smile on his lips through the words he  
spoke. He still had that richness in his voice that she had  
remembered those many years ago--a deep bass that she adored.   
  
"I bet you're surprised to hear my voice, Princess."  
  
"Please don't call me that."  
  
"Princess?"  
  
"Yeah. Too much time has passed."  
  
"Whatever you say," he relented. Now was not the time to argue.  
  
A long moment of silence passed between them.  
  
"I didn't think I'd ever hear your voice again," she admitted. {I  
didn't know if I wanted to hear your voice again.}  
  
"I did receive the message you sent me from the Badlands."   
  
She'd almost forgotten that she had done that. It'd been such a  
long time ago. At the time it was very important that she knew  
why he had left both her and her mother when she was just a  
little girl. It was still important to her, she admitted to  
herself.  
  
"I remember," she replied in a small voice.  
  
"I know that I hurt you, B'Elanna. I've wanted to explain what  
happened years ago; but I was obligated..."  
  
Fury streamed through her body like fire. Patience, be damned!   
"Obligated! Obligated? I was your daughter! Your obligation  
was to my mother and me!"  
  
"I wanted to stay."  
  
"Then why didn't you?" {I loved you, Daddy. I wanted you to be  
with me always.}  
  
"I had to leave. I did it to protect both of you."  
  
"Don't give me that bullshit!" B'Elanna slammed her fists down on  
the desk, making the communication station rattle. "I'm not five  
years old any more. I'm an adult!"  
  
"It's the truth. I wanted to stay." He paused a beat before  
continuing. "Have you ever heard of Section 31?"  
  
{The secret section of Starfleet that some thought was a myth?}   
"Yes," she admitted. "I've heard of it." Most of the Maquis had  
heard of it.  
  
"At the time I left, I was working for them, B'Elanna. I was  
engaged in a critical covert operation. I hadn't intended to  
become so heavily involved, but before I knew it, I was. I  
couldn't risk the lives of my family, so I went deep undercover,  
leaving you and your mother behind. It was the hardest thing I'd  
ever done. Then, when I thought I could come back to you and try  
to mend my ways, I was captured by the Romulans and imprisoned  
for five years."   
  
"But mother said that you abandoned us. For years, I blamed you  
for my troubles."  
  
"It was better that way," Eduardo Torres insisted.   
  
"Better? I thought you left because you didn't want a half-  
Klingon as a daughter!" B'Elanna cried out. "Do you know how  
hard that was for me?!"  
  
"I can only imagine--but at least you were alive. By leaving you  
two the way I did, I kept you safe. By doing so, the Romulans  
would have been less likely to use you two to get to me. I  
didn't have enough time to come up with another solution," he  
explained. You'll never know how much I regret not being with  
you when you were growing up."  
  
Voyager's Chief Engineer swallowed down a lump in her throat.   
"Does Mother know?" she whispered.  
  
"I've spoken to her about it."  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"Your mother is doing better, it was touch and go last year."  
  
{She's alive!} "I thought so."  
  
"What do you mean? Did you find out something through a  
communique from Starfleet?"  
  
"No. Do you remember when mother told us about the Barge of the  
Dead? The vessel that transports souls to Sto-Vo-Kor?"  
  
"I remember. I thought that it was a myth--part of the Klingon  
lore."  
  
"Well, I did too at one time, but I was also injured last year.   
I nearly died. During that time, I remember being on the Barge  
of the Dead, and I met mother there. I wasn't sure if she had  
survived her experience or not."  
  
Eduardo Torres respected Klingon culture and didn't question what  
his daughter was telling him. "She'd been on QonoS visiting her  
family when a Klingon wildcat attacked her," he told her. "If it  
wasn't for her Klingon strength, we would have lost her. For  
weeks, I stayed with her, nursing her back to health. I wanted  
to bring her to Earth so the best Starfleet doctors could help  
her, but she'd have none of it."  
  
"Klingon pride," B'Elanna explained simply.  
  
"Yep...but without her stubborn Klingon pride and her strength,  
I'm sure she would have died."  
  
"I wish she were with you right now," his daughter admitted. "I  
have so much to tell her." B'Elanna's hand stole down to her  
abdomen. "I wanted to tell her how much I appreciated her advice  
during our near-death experience."  
  
"If she was there with you, then I'm sure she knows, B'Elanna.  
Your name was on her lips often during her recovery. But when I  
see her again, I'll tell her. If you don't mind, I could bring a  
recording of our conversation."  
  
B'Elanna nodded. "Yes, please do. I'd like her to know that I  
understand her better than before. Tell her that I love her."  
  
"She knows, Prin- B'Elanna." Old habits were hard to break. "At  
times you two may have had your differences, but she always knew  
that you loved her."  
  
{Why didn't I know that?} "She'll be glad to know that I've come  
to appreciate my Klingon half more than I ever did before."  
  
"You've grown up."  
  
"It's not just that," she continued. "I found someone that  
doesn't shy away from me because of my Klingon side," B'Elanna  
explained. "He's made me see the value in both of my heritages."  
  
"He sounds like a fine man. I'd like to meet him."  
  
B'Elanna smiled and rubbed her stomach. "He is. I love him, but  
...I've done something dishonorable."  
  
"Dishonorable?" her father sounded surprised.  
  
"I've been keeping a secret from him, father," B'Elanna admitted.   
"It's tearing me up inside, but I'm not sure what he'll do if I  
tell him."  
  
"What is it? Do you want to tell me?"  
  
::::You have sixty seconds left to complete your conversation::::  
  
B'Elanna scowled at the computer's interruption and her father  
swore under his breath.   
  
"I've only known for a few days, but it's no excuse. I should  
have told him immediately. You see, I--I'm pregnant." Her hand  
massaged her stomach in a circular motion that she found  
comforting since she found out Tom's baby was growing in her  
womb.  
  
"B'Elanna, that's wonderful news!"  
  
"I hope so--but I don't know if he's ready to be a father, we  
aren't even married yet. Hell, I don't know if I'm even ready to  
be a mother!"  
  
"I'm sure he'll understand."  
  
"But it was my fault. I missed my contraceptive hypo."  
  
"He'll understand," Eduardo Torres insisted.  
  
"How can you be so sure?"  
  
"Because I understood."  
  
B'Elanna paused for a moment as the information sunk in.   
"Mother? She forgot?" {Impossible!}  
  
"Your mother's not perfect. No one is. If...what's his name?"  
  
"Tom."  
  
"If Tom loves you, he'll understand."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"I know so," her father insisted. "I understood. If Tom loves  
you half as much I loved your mother, he'll stand by you, and  
he'll just adore his son or daughter."  
  
"He's always stood by me, and I don't have to tell you that  
putting up with the Klingon temper isn't the easiest thing in the  
world. That's why I'm worried about being a mother. What if I  
can't do it?"  
  
::::Forty seconds remain::::  
  
"I have no doubt that you'll be a wonderful mother to my  
grandchild."  
  
B'Elanna snorted.  
  
"It's true, B'Elanna," her father reassured her. "I remember  
just before I left. Your cousins from my side of the family had  
come to visit. You took Cousin Margarita and Pedro into your  
care, even though you were barely a year older than them.   
Believe me, you'll make out just fine."  
  
B'Elanna had almost forgotten about the time her cousins had come  
to visit. She fervently hoped that her father's instincts were  
correct. More than anything she wanted to be a good mother.   
  
Her father laughed. "So who is this 'Tom', the father of my  
future grandchild?"  
  
"He's the Chief Helmsman on board."  
  
"Tom Paris? Admiral Paris' son? He's the father?"  
  
B'Elanna's heart sank. Would that make a difference to her  
father? And why all of a sudden did it matter to her that he  
approve of her mate?   
  
"I understand from the messages that Captain Janeway transmitted  
last time Starfleet was in contact with your ship, that he's  
really proven himself on board Voyager."  
  
"He has. He's a fine man. I hope that you and mother will like  
him."  
  
"If he's captured your heart, B'Elanna, will I have any choice?"   
He laughed. "And I'm sure if Tom Paris precedes his reputation--  
the Tom Paris charm is legendary in Starfleet--then he'll be able  
to enchant your mother if necessary."  
  
::::Twenty seconds remain::::  
  
{Not enough time! To think I didn't want to talk to him!}  
  
"If anybody can, it'd be Tom," she agreed. B'Elanna could imagine  
him entwining Miral around his little finger. The thought made  
her smile.  
  
"We'll be waiting for you when you get back home, B'Elanna. I'm  
already working on the Maquis' behalf--putting in a good word  
where I can, and calling up old favors."  
  
"That means a lot. I'll let the others know."  
  
"Daddy?"   
  
"Yes, Princess."  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
:::::Communication terminated.:::::  
  
  
The End.  
  
Email please: kelhapam@worldpath.net  
Web site: http://unix.worldpath.net/~kelhapam  



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